UH Hilo Ranked High on Diversity by U.S. News & World Report

The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo has been recognized by U.S. News and World Report as one of the most ethnically diverse universities in the country, and for its large percentage of international students.

The 2004 edition of the "America‘s Best Colleges" guidebook ranked UH Hilo sixth among national liberal arts colleges in campus diversity. UH Hilo was also tied for fourth in percentage of international students with 12 percent of the school‘s total degree-seeking undergraduates.

The survey may actually underrepresent UH Hilo‘s diversity due to the magazine‘s methodology. In calculating the total proportion of minority students, the magazine excludes international students and limits its categories to American Indians and Alaskan Natives, Asian —Americans and Pacific Islanders, African-Americans, Hispanics and whites who are non-Hispanic.

"To be ranked among the nation‘s top ten liberal arts schools in terms of diversity places UH Hilo in some pretty prestigious company," said Chancellor Rose Tseng. "Placing just behind Occidental and Wellesley and ahead of Swarthmore and Amherst is a significant accomplishment that speaks highly of our efforts to recruit and educate an ethnically diverse student population."

UH Hilo is the only public institution to earn a national ranking in the campus diversity category and is second only to the University of Maine-Presque Isle among public universities in percentage of international students.

"This survey not only demonstrates our leadership position in these categories among public universities, but shows we compete very favorably in these areas with some excellent private universities," Tseng said.

Admissions Director James Cromwell says Hawaiʻi students benefit from UH Hilo‘s diversity because it opens the door to new learning opportunities and experiences without having to leave home. He says the interaction among different cultures also helps students meet the challenges they will face upon graduation in a marketplace that is becoming more global in nature.

"Thirty percent of our student population is from out-of-state, and these students choose to come to UH Hilo because of our cultural and international diversity," Cromwell said. "They actively seek out these types of institutions because that is what they are interested in."

The U.S. News and World Report survey is the second national honor for UH Hilo during the past month. Outside Magazine, a national lifestyle publication, ranked the University 19th among the coolest places to work, study, party and live in its September 2003 issue.

"What these two magazines have discovered is that we provide our students with a well-rounded educational experience that contributes to both their personal and professional development," Tseng said. "Students looking for a quality education in a safe, culturally diverse environment who enjoy an outdoor lifestyle can have it all by choosing to enroll at UH Hilo."